A  FRAGMENT 

of  the 

PRISON  EXPERIENCES 

of 

Emma  Goldman  and  Alexander  Berkman 


In  the  State  Prison  at  Jefferson  City,  Mo., 

and  the  U.  S.  Penitentiary  at  Atlanta,  Ga. 

February,  1918    —    October,  1919 


Order  from 
Stella  Comyn  _,  ^, 

36  GROVE  ST.     «^*24i     NEW  YORK  /  67?    Ce/l/S 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2008  with  funding  from 

Microsoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/fragmentofprisonOOgold 


sm-F 


A  FOREWORD 

rpHERE  was  a  time — and  that  not  so  very  long  ago — when  popular  ignor- 
ance  and  superstition  looked  upon  an  insane  person  as  one  possessed  of 
the  devil  or  of  some  other  evil  spirit.  They  sought  to  drive  the  "evil  one" 
out  by  beating  and  torturing  the  insane,  and  often  even  by  drowning,  hang- 
ing, and  burning. 

We  have  fortunately  passed  that  stage  of  stupid  brutality.  Today  even 
the  most  ignorant  man  knows  that  insanity  is  a  disease.  But  in  regard  to 
crime  and  criminals  we  are  still  in  the  stage  of  dark-age  superstition.  We 
look  upon  the  criminal  today  as  we  did  upon  the  insane  fifty  or  seventy-five 
years  ago.  Most  men  still  believe  that  by  beating  and  punishing  the  crim- 
inal, by  hanging  and  electrocution,'  we  can  drive  the  "evil  spirit"  out  of 
him.    This  process  is  called  reforming  the  criminal. 

Yet  common  sense  and  all  human  experience  prove  that  the  criminal 
is  no  more  responsible  for  crime  than  the  crazy  man  for  his  insanity.  The 
pseudo-scientific  theories  of  the  Lombrosos  in  regard  to  crime  and  criminals 
have  been  thoroughly  exploded  and  proven  utterly  fallacious.  Even  if  the 
Lombroso  myth  that  the  criminal  is  born  were  true,  what  good  would  it  do 
to  punish  him?  There  might  be  some  social  justification  for  his  isolation, 
but  how  could  the  criminal,  if  born  such,  be  held  accountable  for  his  crimin- 
ality? 

But  as  a  matter  of  fact — as  modern  criminology  has  proven  beyond  all 
dispute — the  criminal  is  made,  not  born.  He  is  the  product  of  his  environ- 
ment, a  child  of  poverty  and  desperation,  of  misery,  greed,  and  ambition. 
He  is  at  the  same  time  the  symbol  and  the  proof  of  a  diseased  social  condi- 
ion,  the  miscarriage  of  perverted  economic  arrangements.  Fully  97  per  cent, 
of  all  crime  is  due  directly  to  our  economic  institutions.  The  other  3  per 
cent,  are  traceable  to  the  artificiality  and  neurosis  of  modern  life,  to  the  anti- 
social tendencies  cultivated  among  the  weeds  in  the  neglected  and  mistreated 
garden  of  human  life. 

I  have  been  in  close  contact  with  so-called  criminals  for  a  great  many 
years.     Yet  nowhere  have  I  found  the  alleged  "criminal  type,"  nor  have  I 

3 


ever  discovered  the  "real  criminal.*'  He  does  not  exist.  Crime  is  simply 
misdirected  energy,  effort  applied  wrongly.  The  average  criminal  is  just 
the  average  man,  generally  speaking.  If  in  any  sense  he  may  be  considered 
a  "variation,"  it  is  only  because  of  his  frequently  superior  initiative,  daring 
and  intellgence.  His  often  anti-social  activity  is  conditioned  by  his  uncon- 
ventional vocation,  not  by  any  inherent  criminal  or  anti-social  tendencies. 
I  am  n<>t  speaking  of  congenital  criminal  degenerates  whose  number  is  in- 
finitesimal, and  who  belong  in  the  care  of  the  alienist.  The  vast  majority 
of  the  so-called  criminal  class  are  thoroughly  normal  human  beings,  if  the 
term  may  be  applied  to  the  type  of  man  produced  by  modern  civilization.  I 
have  had  scores  and  hundreds  of  professional  criminals,  young  and  old,  tell 
me  again  and  again.  "The  only  hope  and  ambition  of  my  life  is  just  to  get  a 
little  pile,  so  that  I  can  feel  secure  from  want.  Then  I'd  take  my  family 
somewhere  in  the  country  and  live  a  quiet  and  honest  life." 

My  present  space  is  limited.  I  can  merely  shadow  forth  here  a  skeleton 
outline  of  this  big  and  very  vital  subject.  In  a  forthcoming  book  I  shall 
analyze  more  thoroughly  the  sources  and  the  psychology  of  crime,  and  write 
of  the  unique  and  interesting  prison  types  and  characters  I  have  met. 

For  the  present  it  is  sufficient  to  emphasize  that  our  whole  social  attitude 
toward  the  criminal  is  fundamentally  wrong.  It  is  the  attitude  of  barbaric 
stupidity  that  seeks  to  hide  its  own  shame  and  its  mistakes  behind  prison 
bars.  It  has  neither  understanding  of  human  motives  nor  sympathy  with 
human  weaknesses.  This  social  attitude  toward  the  criminal,  representing 
the  lowest  human  intelligence,  is  reflected  in  the  management  and  discipline 
of  the  prisons.  It  is  apparent  that  modern  criminology  has  had  a  very 
negligible  effect  upon  the  popular  mind  within  the  last  twenty-five  years,  for 
1  have  found  the  prisons  of  today  in  no  essential  way  different  from  those  of 
a  quarter  of  a  century  back.  Brutality  is  rampant;  discipline  is  synonymous 
with  the  absolute  suppression  of  individuality  and  the  crushing  of  the 
prisoner's  spirit  and  will.  The  atmosphere  of  our  penal  institutions  of  today 
i-  that  of  violence  and  force,  of  force  and  violence.  With  very  rare  excep- 
tions,  the  spirit  of  humanity,  of  understanding,  and  justice,  is  a  stranger  in 

prison. 

Alexander  Berkman 


THE  STATE  PRISON  AT  JEFFERSON  CITY,  MO. 

EMMA   GOLDMAN 

TWENTY-SIX  years  ago,  in  1893,  I  paid  the  first  toll  for  my  opinions 
in  the  State  of  New  York  with  a  year's  free  residence  in  the  BlackwelPs 
Island  Penitentiary.  I  found  the  cells  small,  dark,  and  filthy,  the  sanitary 
conditions  appalling,  and  the  general  attitude  toward  the  convict  on  the 
part  of  prison  officials  hard  and  cruel. 

Terrible  as  these  conditions  were,  they  had  some  justification.  In 
1893  there  was  barely  a  spark  anywhere  to  discredit  the  antiquated  and 
inhuman  theory  of  predestination — the  Calvinistic  idea  that  man  is  born 
a  sinner  and  that  he  must  expiate  his  sins  through  suffering  and  pain.  This 
attitude  toward  the  criminal  and  the  methods  of  punishment  rest  on  this 
biblical  conception  to  this  very  day.  Much  more  did  that  idea  prevail 
twenty-six  years  ago. 

Since  then  criminology  has  undergone  a  revolution.  Libraries  are 
filled  with  works  on  the  origin  and  causes  of  crime,  on  the  futility  of  punish- 
ment as  a  corrective  of  crime.  More  and  more  frequently  modern  writers 
have  pointed  out  that  crimes  are  related  to  social  conditions,  and  that  brutal 
treatment  of  prisoners  makes  them  become  more  hardened  and  anti-social. 

With  a  vast  literature  on  scientific  criminology  and  the  widespread 
attempt  to  reform  prisons,  to  humanize  the  treatment  of  the  unfortunate 
social  offender,  one  might  have  expected  some  changes  in  the  penal  institu- 
tions of  this  country.  Yet  in  the  year  1918  in  the  States  of  Missouri  and 
Georgia,  and  for  aught  we  know  in  every  State  in  the  land,  prisons  continue 
to  be  "built  of  bricks  of  shame"  and 

The  vilest  deeds,  like  poison  weeds, 

Bloom  well  in  prison  air. 
It  is  only  what  is  good  in  Man 

That  wastes  and  withers  there. 
Pale  anguish  keeps  the  heavy  gate, 

And  the  Warder  is  Despair. 

To  be  sure,  the  cells  in  the  Missouri  State  Penitentiary,  at  least  in  the 
female  wing,  are  larger  and  some  of  them  lighter  than  the  vermin-infested 
cells  on  Blackwell's  Island  twenty-six  years  ago.  But  even  there  the  cells 
are  never  light  enough  except  on  very  sunny  days,  while  more  than  half 
the  cells  are  in  utter  darkness  and  without  ventilation.  In  fact,  air  is  the 
most  tabooed  article  in  the  Missouri  prison.  Except  in  extremely  warm 
weather,  the  windows  are  rarely  opened,  healthy  women  are  forced  to  breathe 

5 


the  putrid  air  of  consumptives  and  syphiletics.  During  the  influenza  epi- 
demic when  thirty-five  prisoners  lay  stricken,  we  had  to  plead  and  fight 
for  the  opening  of  a  window.  To  this  day  I  can  not  understand  how  any 
one  ol  us  survived,  except  that  the  Lord  "takes  care  of  us  poor  sinners." 

\  es,  the  cell>  are  larger,  the  sanitation  modern,  but  in  every  other 
respect,  in  the  attitude  of  the  officials  toward  the  prisoner,  the  cold  indif- 
ference  to  his  needs,  the  methods  of  breaking  his  will,  and,  above  all,  the 
mode  of  employment  have  not  improved,  but  are  even  worse  than  my  experi- 
ence  <>n  BlackwelTs  Island  in  1893. 

I  cannot  dwell  here  on  the  blood-freezing  reception  accorded  each 
hopele-.-  victim  when  the  prison  doors  close  upon  her.  That  alone  is  enough 
to  crush  the  bravest  spirit  and  to  turn  one's  very  soul  to  gall  and  hate.  I 
shall  treat  of  this  in  my  forthcoming  book,  dealing  with  my  twenty. months' 
experience  in  the  Missouri  State  Prison. 

It  is  the  task  system  that  prevails  in  this  prison — as  truly  slavery 
as  ever  existed  in  this  country  before  the  Civil  War — which  chiefly  needs 
to  be  exposed.  The  contract  system  of  prison  labor  has  been  abolished 
"officially" — the  State  is  now  the  employer.  Yet  no  slave  owner  so  drove, 
coerced  and  exploited  his  slaves  as  Missouri  bleeds  and  exploits  its  help- 
ie.--  victims  in  the  penitentiary  at  Jefferson  City. 

Two  months  are  allowed  to  learn  the  trade,  which  consists  of  sewing 
jackets,  overalls,  auto  coats  and  suspenders — tasks  varying  from  45  to  121 
jackets  a  day,  or  from  9  to  18  dozen  suspenders  a  day.  Now,  while  the 
actual  machine  work  on  these  different  tasks  is  the  same,  the  number  of 
jackets  in  the  88  or  121  tasks  is  double  to  the  45,  55  and  66  tasks;  hence  double 
physical  exertion  is  required.  Yet  the  different  tasks  must  be  made  in  the 
same  number  of  hours,  without  regard  to  age,  physical  endurance,  periods 
of  menstruation,  when  machine  work  is  sheer  torture  to  women.  Even  ill- 
ness,  unit--  it  i-  of  a  very  serious  nature,  is  not  considered  sufficient  cause 
to  be  relieved  from  the  terrible  task.  So,  unless  one  had  previous  experi- 
ence in  die  needle  trade,  or  a  special  aptitude  for  it,  one's  life  is  made  a 
veritable  hell,  beginning  a  few  days  after  commitment  and  lasting  till  the 
final  day  of  release.  No  understanding  for  human  variations,  no  consid- 
eratioo  for  mental  or  physical  limitations,  except  for  a  few  favorites  of 
tin-  prison  officials,  those  who  are  usually  the  most  worthless.  The  shop 
foreman  in  <  harge  is  a  boy  of  twenty-one,  who  took  up  the  art  of  slave  driv- 

it  the  age  of  sixteen.  He  bullies  and  terrorizes  the  women,  holding 
the  threat  of  the  blind  cell  and  the  bread-and-water  diet  over  them. 

The  vilest   Language  ia  used  to  the  women,  some  of  them  old  enough 
I*    be  the  boy's  mother.     Of  course,  he  is  paid  to  show  results.     The  only 
u,i\   he  can  gel   results  is  through  slave-driving  methods,  as  well  as  b)   a< 
tualK  stealing  pari  of  the  women's  output,  especially  from  the  more  ignorant, 
who     !>•  unable  to  do  their  own  counting. 

On   more  thin  one  occasion   1  have  seen  this  miserable  foreman  delih- 

steal   jackets   and   suspenders   from  colored  girls  who  are  serving 

twenty-five  year  sentences  and  from  illiterate  white  girls.     If  they  dare  insist 


that  they  delivered  their  quota  of  work,  they  are  punished  for  "impudence," 
in  addition  to  being  punished  for  "short"  work.  In  view  of  the  fact  that 
four  punishment  marks  a  month  reduce  the  prisoner  one  grade,  and  that 
a  higher  grade  means  speedier  release  from  the  prison  hell,  the  enormity 
of  this  petty  official's  criminal  thievery  can  be  appreciated.  Yet  this  man 
is  considered  fit  to  be  in  charge  of  sixty  to  seventy  "criminals."  It  does 
not  take  much  wisdom  to  find  the  greater  criminal. 

It  may  be  argued  that  this  ignorant  and  vulgar  young  man  is  only  a 
tool,  and  therefore  not  to  blame.  Partly  this  is  true.  The  State  is  the 
real  offender,  the  officials  of  the  Prison  Board,  as  well  as  the  petty  sub- 
ordinates who  live  by  the  sweat  and  blood  of  the  social  outcasts.  The  very 
first  year  the  State  of  Missouri  became  the  exploiter  of  the  convicts'  labor, 
the  St.  Louis  Post-Dispatch  reported  that  the  salaries  of  the  prison  officials 
had  been  increased  $20,000  per  annum.  No  wonder  the  Acting  Warden, 
Captain  Gilvan — a  bully  and  a  brute  who  used  to  administer  flogging  when 
it  was  still  "officially"  in  vogue  in  Missouri — once  said  to  us  in  the  shop, 
"I  must  have  the  task.  You  must  make  it.  No  such  thing  as  can't.  If  you 
do  not  give  me  the  task,  I  will  punish  you.  And  I  punish  cheerfully."  Hav- 
ing the  support  and  approval  of  such  a  man  and  the  sanction  of  the  head 
matron,  a  woman  entirely  bereft  of  feeling,  it  is  natural  for  the  foreman 
to  squeeze  and  press  and  bully  the  task  out  of  the  women.  But  can  anyone 
suppose  that  the  foreman  could  lend  himself  to  such  brutal  slave-driving, 
if  he  were  not  depraved  himself? 

It  is  utterly  impossible  to  keep  up  the  required  speed. day  after  day. 
The  working  hours  are  nine  a  day,  but  in  order  to  complete  the  task,  the 
women  are  driven  to  the  old-time  sweatshop  methods  of  taking  work  evenings 
to  their  cells.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  cells  are  vermin  infested,  and 
the  jackets  and  suspenders  the  prisoners  make  are  sold  broadcast  and  have 
already  been  handled  by  consumptive  and  venereally  infected  male  prisoners, 
who  prepare  the  work,  the  results  can  readily  be  imagined. 

Personally  I  was  well  supplied  by  many  friends  with  nourishing  food. 
I  am  an  adept  at  the  needle  trade,  having  worked  at  it  for  many  years,  when 
I  first  came  to  know  the  many  economic  opportunities  in  our  so-called 
democracy.  Yet  I  never  could  keep  up  the  mind-  and  soul-destroying  speed 
in  the  prison  shop.  Therefore  I  know  what  it  means  to  the  underfed  women 
prisoners.    Not  one  but  emerges  with  impaired  health. 

If  the  contract  system  were  really  abolished,  why  would  the  State  of  Mis- 
souri drive  its  prison  inmates?  For  a  very  simple  reason:  the  State  of 
Missouri,  like  the  private  contractor,  does  business  with  private  concerns 
in  every  State  of  the  Union.  Proof  of  this  is  given  by  the  labels  sewn 
on  every  garment  that  leaves  the  prison.  I  was  able  to  smuggle  out  a 
few,  which  are  reproduced  here. 

Civilization  claims  to  have  advanced,  and  in  no  country  do  we  hear 
so  much  about  prison  reform  as  in  our  own.  Yet  what  can  we  say  for  the 
State  of  Missouri,  when  at  the  head  of  their  female  department  is  a  woman 


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in  charge  of  ninety  women  prisoners  who  has  control  over  their  life  and 
death? 

This  woman,  Lilah  Smith,  has  been  employed  in  penal  institutions 
since  her  fifteenth  year,  and  has,  therefore,  little  education  or  training.  She 
is  a  believer  in  rigid  discipline  and  punishment.  She  is  really  a  neurotic, 
who  has  no  control  over  her  temper.  She  uses  physical  violence  on  the 
slightest  pretext,  especially  when  a  particular  prisoner  is  not  in  her  good 
graces.  Not  once  in  twenty  months  did  I  hear  her  address  one  single  en- 
couraging or  kind  word  to  a  prisoner.  Flogging  in  the  State  of  Missouri 
has  been  officially  abolished,  but  Lilah  Smith's  vigorous  slapping  goes  on. 

There  are  three  methods  of  punishment:  First,  the  women  are  deprived 
of  their  recreation;  second,  they  are  locked  up  in  their  cells  for  forty-eight 
hours,  from  Saturday  to  Monday,  on  a  diet  of  bread  and  water,  and  then 
expected  to  begin  their  task  Monday  in  their  weakened  condition;  third, 
they  are  sent  to  a  blind  cell,  a  cell  52  inches  by  104  inches,  with  an  aper- 
ture of  7  inches  by  1^  inches,  supplied  with  one  blanket,  two  pieces  of 
bread  and  two  cups  of  water  a  day.  In  this  tomb  they  are  kept  from  three 
to  twenty-two  davs. 

Added  to  this  maddening  torture  are  the  bull  rings,  which,  while  never 
used  for  white  women  during  my  stay,  were  used  on  colored  girls. 

The  worst  tragedy  which  occurred  during  my  stay  in  the  prison  was 
the  deliberate  murder  of  Minnie  Eddy.  When  I  entered  in  February,  Minnie 
had  already  been  there  a  number  of  months.  She  struggled  valiantly  with 
the  task,  which  she  seemed  unable  to  master.  To  avoid  punishment,  she 
used  every  cent  her  sister  sent  her  to  hire  the  task.  In  November,  1918,  she 
began  to  complain  of  pain  in  her  head  and  throat.  She  went  to  the  doctor, 
but  he  ordered  her  back  to  the  shop.  She  went  back,  but  seemed  unable 
to  pull  herself  together  to  do  any  work.  The  matron  decided  she  was! 
shamming,  and  put  her  in  punishment.  At  first  she  was  kept  in  her  own 
cell  on  bread  and  water;  then  the  matron,  realizing  that  we  were  feeding 
Minnie,  transferred  her  to  the  so-called  hospital,  where  a  mattress  was 
refused  her,  and  only  a  bare  cot  and  blanket  were  supplied.  In  that  place 
the  unfortunate  woman  was  kept  another  week. 

I  went  to  the  matron  shortly  after  Minnie  was  put  in  the  hospital, 
begging  for  her  release.  It  was  refused,  the  matron  still  insisting  that 
the  woman  was  shamming.  Then,  Thanksgiving  Day,  Minnie  was  brought 
down  and  allowed  to  eat  her  Thanksgiving  dinner  of  putrid  pork  on  an 
empty  stomach.  Two  days  later  I  took  Minnie  a  couple  of  soft-boiled 
eggs,  and  seeing  on  her  table  a  box  sent  by  her  relatives  some  weeks  before, 
and  which  had  just  been  given  her,  I  warned  her  against  using  the  decayed 
food  in  her  present  condition.      But  she  was  ravenous. 

That  evening  some  of  the  prison  trusties  came  to  me  and  told  me  that 
Minnie  was  in  a  heap  on  the  floor,  unconscious.  I  demanded  that  they 
call  Miss  Smith,  the  matron.  The  matron  screamed  at  and  slapped  the 
unconscious  woman.  She  was  allowed  to  remain  in  her  cell  until  Monday, 
when  I  could  endure  the  situation  no  longer,  and  insisted  on  seeing  Mr. 


Painter,  President  of  the  Prison  Board,  who  came  over  at  once.  He  had 
been  told  that  Minnie  was  refusing  food.  He  gave  orders  to  have  her  moved 
back  to  her  own  cell,  and  put  one  of  the  girls  in  charge  as  her  nurse.  From 
the  latter  I  learned  that  an  attempt  was  made  to  feed  Minnie  forcibly,  but 
it  was  too  late.  She  never  regained  consciousness,  dying  Wednesday  eve- 
ning, at  seven  o'clock.  Her  terrible  death  benefited  the  other  women,  inas- 
much as  no  one  was  afterwards  placed  in  the  death  trap  for  more  than 
five  days.      So  do  the  dead  sometimes  aid  the  living. 

There  are  two  criterions  on  the  part  of  the  officials  in  dealing  ivith  the 
prisoners.  If  they  are  sick,  they  are  told  that  they  are  shamming;  if  they 
cannot  make  the  task,  they  are  told  they  are  lazy. 

Frequently  sick  prisoners  are  ordered  back  to  the  shop  by  the  physi- 
cian when  they  are  barely  able  to  drag  themselves  along.  This  is  the 
more  remarkable  because  he  is  not  an  unkindly  man  and  was  especially 
decent  to  me.  The  reason  for  his  indifference  to  the  other  women  there  I 
discovered  during  my  last  days  at  the  prison.  He  is  at  daggers'  points 
with  the  Board:  therefore  he  is  unable  to  do  what  he  would  like. 

The  Missouri  State  Penitentiary  has  the  merit  system,  which  is  only 
another  method  of  pressing  out  more  labor  from  its  victims.  Those  who 
can  stand  the  nerve-tearing  speed  and  get  into  Class  A,  the  highest  class, 
have  their  time  reduced  almost  in  half.  Therefore  many  of  the  women 
work  beyond  their  limit  of  physical  capacity  to  get  out  of  the  hell  hole, 
even  at  the  expense  of  their  health.  However,  only  State  prisoners  benefit 
by  tli is  merit  system.  Not  so  the  Federal  prisoners.  They  are  forced  to 
make  the  task  every  day,  though  their  time  is  in  no  way  affected.  Imagine 
the  outrage  in  the  case  of  a  prisoner  serving  a  twenty-five-year  sentence. 
Day  after  day.  year  in  and  year  out,  she  is  browbeaten  and  harassed  to 
make  the  task.  If  she  fails,  she  is  repeatedly  thrown  into  the  "blind  cell." 
II  she  succeeds,  she  gains  nothing.  The  Federal  Government  pays  the 
for  the  upkeep  of  each  Federal  prisoner.  In  addition,  the  State  makes 
a  huge  profit  from  the  labor  of  these  Federals.  In  return,  it  gives  them 
not  a  single  privilege.  The  reduction  of  six  days'  time  a  month  is  pro- 
vided for  1»\  the  Federal  Government.  It  is  a  most  unspeakable  injustice 
toward  helpless  human  beings. 

In  disclosing  conditions  prevalent  in  the  Female  Department  of  the 
Missouri  State  Penitentiary  I  am  in  no  way  prompted  by  personal  griev- 
ances. Thanks  to  the  liberality  of  Mr.  William  R.  Painter.  Presidenl  of 
the  Prison  Board,  and  possibly  also  because  of  the  fear  of  publicity  on  the 
part  of  the  management,  I  have  no  personal  complaints  to  make.  In  jus- 
tice to  Mr.  Painter,  I  musl  sa)  thai  he  is  a  rather  unusual  man  for  his  posi- 
tion. Whenever  his  attention  was  called  to  Bome  grievances,  he  was  always 
to  remedj  it.  Bui  prison  abuses  are  conditioned  in  the  very  character 
of  prison  life  and  in  corrupl  politics,  bo  thai  nothing  short  of  the  complete 

10 


abolition  of  prisons  will  ever  eradicate  the  terrible  wrongs  committed  in 
penal  institutions. 

Meanwhile  it  is  necessary  to  continue  to  point  out  that  criminals  are 
victims  of  our  mad  social  arrangement,  and  to  emphasize  the  utter  failure 
of  punishment  as  a  corrective,  as  well  as  to  expose  the  average  brutal  and 
ignorant  type  of  prison  official.  The  recognition  of  this  may  help  to  change 
our  better-than-thou  attitude  toward  the  criminal. 

As  for  my  own  experience,  in  all  my  twenty  months  of  the  closest  con- 
tact with  my  fellow  prisoners,  I  did  not  find  one  I  could  call  depraved,  cruel 
or  hard.  On  the  contrary,  I  know  a  "lifer"  there  who  came  to  the  peni- 
tentiary hardly  more  than  a  child.  She  has  already  served  fifteen  years. 
She  is  a  most  tender  and  devoted  creature.  She  has  one  hold  on  life — a 
dog,  whom  she  loves  and  tends  with  a  mother's  devotion.  Who  is  the  true 
criminal — this  poor  heart-broken  little  woman  or  the  officials  who  have 
the  power  to  let  her  spend  her  remaining  years  in  freedom,  and  yet  keep 
her?  Another  woman,  who  has  a  fifteen-year  sentence,  is  completely 
broken  in  health,  and  in  constant  physical  misery.  She  is  passionately 
devoted  to  her  only  child,  a  little  boy.  Is  she  the  criminal  or  those  who 
keep  her  there?  Her  offense  was  the  result  of  a  moment's  aberration; 
theirs  is  a  cold-blooded,  methodical  and  daily  crime.  Who  is  the  greater 
criminal?  Another  woman,  the  mother  of  eight  children,  worked  and 
starved  half  to  death  on  a  farm.  She  is  thrown  into  prison  for  stealing 
a  pig.  Who  is  the  greater  criminal,  this  poor  woman  or  the  State  which 
sent  her  there?  I  found  no  criminals  among  my  fellow  prisoners,  only 
unfortunates — broken,  helpless,  hapless  and  hopeless  human  beings. 

How  rich  in  comparison  are  we  political  prisoners!  Kate  Richards 
O'Hare,  who  has  the  gift  of  going  into  the  life  of  every  prisoner,  soothing 
and  comforting  and  sustaining  her,  and  is  herself  sustained  by  the  ideal  and 
the  love  of  thousands.  Rare  little  Ella  Antolini,  with  her  marvelous  stoicism, 
her  splendid  fortitude,  and  her  great  capacity  for  human  sympathy.  We 
politicals  are  rich,  indeed.  Rich  in  the  love  of  our  dear  comrades,  rich  in  our 
faith  of  the  future,  strong  in  our  position.  But  the  others?  It  is  for  them 
we  plead,  against  the  wrongs,  the  inhumanities  committed  against  those  in 
the  prison  we  left  behind.     Indeed,  in  every  prison  in  the  land. 

Emma  Goldman 


11 


THE  ATLANTA  FEDERAL  PENITENTIARY 

-    \ n  mem-  by  Alexander  Berkman 

Published  in  the  Atlanta  Constitution.  October  1,  1919,  on  the  day 
of  his  release  from  the  Federal  Penitentiary,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

TIIIS  country  is  at  the  present  time  going  through  the  same  throes  of  social 
and  industrial  rebirth  that  are  convulsing  England,  France  and  other 
European  countries.  The  steel  workers'  strike  is  merely  one  of  the  symptoms 
of  the  .-ocial  evolutionary  process  that  may  in  the  near  future  culminate  in 
revolution.  The  sources  of  labor  discontent  in  this  country  are  identical  with 
those  in  every  other  land  of  our  so-called  civilization.  The  working  masses 
are  nol  satisfied  any  more  with  empty  political  democracy;  they  demand  a 
share  in  the  products  of  their  industry,  and  the  opportunity  to  live,  to  enjoy 
life.  Industrial  slavery,  perhaps  more  acute  in  the  United  States  than  any- 
where else,  is  on  its  death-bed.  The  next  step  in  the  social  life  of  the  world 
i-  the  taking  over  of  all  industry  by  the  workers,  both  manual  and  mental,  to 
be  managed  and  operated  by  themselves,  for  the  benefit  of  the  producers 
instead  of  for  the  profil  of  our  industrial  and  financial  Kaisers. 

The  present  struggle  of  the  steel  workers  vividly  calls  back  to  my  mem- 
ory  tin-  greal  steel  strike  of  Homestead,  in  1892,  when  the  Pinkertons  hired  by 
Carnegie  and  Frick  shot  the  strikers  down  wholesale  for  demanding  living 
conditions.  In  connection  with  the  Homestead  strike  I  served  fourteen  years 
in  the  Western  Penitentiary  of  Pennsylvania.  We  have  made  some  progress 
Bince  then.  The  worker-,  especially,  have  learned  a  good  deal  since  the  days 
of  the  Homestead  strike.  They  have  learned  the  most  important  lesson  of 
all,  and  that  is  that  labor  has  an  invincible  weapon  in  solidarity.  That  is 
also  the  lesson  thai  is  being  impressed  on  American  labor  today  by  the 
workers  ol  England.  Soon  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  will  realize 
that  it  i-  folly  to  call  a  strike  of  steel  workers,  without  at  the  same  time  se- 
curing the  solidaric  support  of  all  the  other  key  industries— the  railway  men 
and  the  miners,  for  instance.  As  long  a-  the  worker-  in  those  industries  strike 
■  '  .  it  different  time-,  the)  run  the  risk  of  defeat.  But  a  simultaneous 
Mrike  '  ,11  the  three  ke\  industries  would  quiekly  bring  our  Garys,  Morgans 
and  I-  l  ■>  k-  to  their  senses. 

Hut  whatever  the  immediate  outcome  of  the  steel  strike,  it  is  but  a  ques- 
tion of  .<  short  time  before  American  labor  will  make  solidaric  cause  through- 

II  industries    md  assert  the  right  of  the  toilers  to  the  ownership  of  the 

12 


full  product  of  their  toil.     The  day  of  capitalistic  autocracy  is  gone.     The 
future  belongs  to  the  proletariat  of  hand  and  brain. 

The  present  labor  situation  in  the  United  States  is  full  of  promise  for 
the  future.  The  war  and  its  results  have  proven  a  great  education  for  the 
peoples  of  the  world.  They  are  sick  of  the  high-sounding  phrases  about  po- 
litical democracy  and  self-determination  that  are  in  practice  like  so  many 
scraps  of  paper.  It  is  industrial  autocracy  that  the  workers  of  the  world  seek 
to  destroy.  This  country,  the  alleged  champion  of  democracy,  is  being  daily 
changed  more  and  more  into  the  regime  of  Prussian  militarism.  The  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  has  taken  advantage  of  the  alleged  necessities  of  the 
war  to  crush  the  spirit  of  liberty  and  to  deprive  the  people  of  the  last  vestige 
of  freedom.  It  has  now  become  dangerous,  in  this  free  country  of  ours,  to 
express  an  independent  opinion  upon  any  subject,  except  perhaps  about 
the  weather.  Free  speech  and  press  are  a  thing  of  the  past.  The  American 
junkers  and  plutocrats  are  swamping  the  country  with  propaganda  for  a 
strong  militarism.  Our  industrial  autocrats  see  the  handwriting  on  the  wall 
and  hope  to  crush  the  gathering  forces  of  labor  by  the  bayonet  and  the  ma- 
chine gun.  The  voice  of  liberty  is  being  stifled  in  the  prisons.  Our  jails  and 
penitentiaries  are  full  of  political  and  industrial  prisoners  who  have  dared 
to  hold  an  opinion  of  their  own  and  to  express  it.  Men  like  Debs  and  others 
are  immured  behind  iron  bars  because  they  love  liberty  more  than  they  do 
patrioteering.  It  is  to  the  eternal  disgrace  of  this  country  that  conscientious 
objectors,  political  and  industrial  prisoners  have  not  yet  been  given  an 
amnesty,  though  even  some  of  the  reactionary  countries  of  Europe  have  long 
since  restored  their  social  protestants  to  liberty.  If  there  is  any  manhood 
leit  in  the  people  of  America,  they  should  immediately  voice  the  most  com- 
pelling demand  for  a  general  amnesty  for  all  political  and  industrial 
prisoners. 

Rebels  against  industrial  autocracy,  such  as  Debs,  Kate  Richards  O'Hare, 
and  others,  should  be  the  pride  of  the  United  States  instead  of  being  kept  in 
dungeons.  Woe  to  a  country  that  has  no  Debs,  Kate  O'Hare  or  Emma  Gold- 
man! They  are  the  voices  that  cry  out  the  best  aspirations  of  humanity, 
even  in  the  face  of  the  gravest  danger  to  themselves. 

Speaking  of  Debs,  I  was  happy  to  have  the  opportunity  this  morning, 
before  leaving  the  Federal  Prison  at  Atlanta,  to  shake  hands  with  the  Grand 
Old  Man  of  the  New  Day.  If  there  ever  was  a  martyr  to  liberty,  Debs  is 
that  man.  How  stupid  it  is  of  the  Government  to  jail  men  of  his  type!  Prison 
cannot  crush  their  spirit,  nor  iron  bars  and  brutality  change  their  conscience. 
Their  love  of  humanity  transcends  the  fear  of  punishment  or  death.  There 
are  times  when  the  scaffold  is  the  most  elevated  position  for  an  honest  man 
Ideals  cannot  be  imprisoned,  nor  can  the  eternal  spirit  of  liberty  be  extermin- 
ated by  shutting  up  its  champions  in  dungeons  or  deporting  men  and  women 
out  of  the  United  States.  I  feel,  I  am  convinced,  that  the  future  belongs  to 
us — to  us  who  strive  to  regenerate  society,  to  abolish  poverty,  misery,  war  and 


crime,  by  doing  away  with  the  causes  of  these  evils.     And  even  in  prison, 
where  we  cannot  fight  for  liberty,  we  ran  always  struggle  for  principle. 

It  i-  this  attitude  of  the  political  prisoners  in  all  prisons  that  makes  their 
lot  even  harder  than  that  of  the  average  prisoner.  It  is  time  the  United  States 
Government  should  take  its  head  out  of  the  bushes  and  recognize  the  ex- 
istence of  political  prisoners  in  this  country.  Even  in  Czarist  Russia 
the  political  prisoner  was  recognized  as  a  man  suffering  for  his  ideals.  Be- 
uighted  America  -till  considers  the  political  just  the  same  as  the  so-called 
common  criminal.  In  the  Atlanta  Federal  Prison  the  politicals  fare  even 
worse  than  tlit*  average  prisoner.  A  banker  who  got  away  with  the  savings 
<>t  poor  widows  and  orphans  receives  the  highest  consideration,  while  the 
man  wlm  loves  humanity  more  than  his  own  safety  is  subjected  to  special 
persecution  and  discrimination. 

I  find  that  very  few  essential  changes  have  taken  place  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  our  prisons  within  the  last  25  years.  The  same  system  of  brutal- 
izing  and  degrading  the  prisoners  still  prevails.  Only  the  forms  differ 
slightly.  The  dungeon  (known  as  "the  hole"),  chaining  up  by  the  wrists, 
clubbing  and  shooting,  are  the  dominant  methods  of  reformation  in  Atlanta. 
Men  are  chained  to  the  doors  for  eight  and  ten  hours  consecutively,  without 

the  opportunity  of  answering  the  most  pressing  demands  of  nature.  I 
have  known  men  in  the  Federal  Prison  to  be  kept  21  to  30  days  at  a  stretch  in 
"the  hole."  which  is  a  filthy,  dark  kennel,  not  fit  for  a  respectable  dog,  and 
fed  on  two  small  slices  of  bread  twice  a  clay.  Men  are  clubbed  frequently, 
on  the  least  provocation,  and  recently  a  young  colored  boy,  "Kid"  Smith, 

shot  dead  for  not  walking  fast  enough  while  being  taken  to  "the  hole." 

The  average  t\  pe  of  guard  in  the  Federal  Prison  is  far  below  that  of  the 
i  isoner,  both  mentally  and  morally.  Excepting  a  few  decent  officers, 
of  a  humane  spirit,  the  majority  of  the  guards  are  vulgar,  brutal  and  dis- 
sipated men.  Some  are  degenerates  of  the  worst  type.  At  their  head  is 
Deputy  W  arden  Girardeau,  formerly  in  charge  of  a  chain  gang.  He  is  a  man 
o!  t/er)  low  mentality  who  believes  in  the  old-time  methods  of  brutality  and 
suppression.  His  tactics  look  toward-  the  breaking  of  the  prisoner's  spirit 
and  to  the  degradation  of  the  inmates.  A  prison  is  the  last  place  in  the  world, 
even  al  it-  best,  to  improve  a  man.  But  the  Atlanta  Prison  tends  chiefly  to 
dehumanize  the  prisoners  and  to  crush  the  last  vestige  of  their  manhood  and 
self-respect  It  ia  the  Deputy  Warden  who  is  mainly  responsible  for  the  in- 
humanities and  outrages  practiced  in  the  Federal  Prison.  He  encourages  the 
most  brutal  t<  ndencies  of  the  guard-,  and  even  frequently  protests  and  nulli- 
fy •-  the  Warden"-  more  humane  attitude,  fne  Deputy  Warden  is  the  most 
hate. I  i.  hi  in  the  pri-ou.  The  inmate-  regard  him  as  a  religious  hypocrite, 
mean-spirited.  It  is  his  custom,  after  reading  Sunday  service, 
down  to  the  dungeon  and  chain  men  up  to  the  doors.  He  tantalizes 
th<  hungry  victims  in  "the  hole"  with  the  recital  ol  the  fine  breakfast  he  had 
enjoyed  thai  morning,  and  in  various  ways  seeks  to  provoke  them  into  some 

irded  remark  in  order  to  in<  rease  their  punishment.     In  protest  against 

i  I 


the  murderous  clubbing  and  shooting  of  defenseless  prisoners,  I  circulated  a 
petition  in  the  tailor  shop  (where  I  was  employed  at  the  time),  to  call  the 
attention  of  the  Warden  to  the  terrible  situation.  The  Deputy,  hearing  about 
it,  sent  for  me  and  asked  me  what  my  purpose  was.  I  explained  to  him  the 
general  indignation  regarding  the  abuse  of  the  prisoners,  whereupon  he  asked 
me  my  opinion  of  his  methods.  I  told  him  frankly  that  his  actions  did  not 
square  with  his  religious  professions.  I  said  that  he  was  cruel  to  the  men, 
that  he  lacked  all  sense  of  justice  and  fair  play,  and  that  I  thought — as  well 
as  the  majority  of  the  prisoners — that  he  was  a  hypocrite.  For  this  I  was  put 
on  bread  and  water  in  "the  hole,"  a  dark  and  filthy  cell  hardly  big  enough 
to  stretch  out  in.  After  my  time  in  "the  hole"  had  expired,  I  was  sentenced 
to  solitary  confinement  for  the  rest  of  my  time.  I  spent  the  last  seven  and 
a  half  months  there. 

The  Federal  Prison  at  Atlanta  would  profit  a  great  deal  both  in  disci- 
pline and  morale  by  the  immediate  discharge  of  Deputy  Warden  Girardeau. 
Warden  Fred  G.  Zerbst  is  a  man  far  above  the  Deputy  in  every  sense.  He 
is  a  man  of  modern  ideas  and  of  much  experience  in  handling  prison  inmates. 
He  believes  in  the  more  humane  methods  of  prison  management  as  against 
the  Deputy's  system  of  brutal  repression.  Unfortunately,  the  Warden  is  al- 
most entirely  occupied  with  the  outside  affairs  of  the  prison,  so  that  the  inside 
management  is  practically  all  in  the  hands  of  the  Deputy.  There  is  con- 
siderable friction  between  the  two,  with  deplorable  results  to  the  prisoners. 
Very  frequently  the  best  intentions  of  the  Warden  are  nullified  by  the  manner 
of  their  application  at  the  hands  of  the  Deputy. 

It  is  high  time  that  the  public  get  a  look  into  the  inside  workings  of  our 
penal  institutions.  The  amount  of  brutality  practiced  in  them  as  a  matter  of 
daily  routine  is  almost  unbelievable.  When  will  people  realize  that  the  crim- 
inal is  a  man  more  sinned  against  than  sinning,  a  victim  of  our  unjust  social 
and  economic  arrangements?  But  after  all,  prisons  and  their  methods  are  a 
reflex  of  the  conditions  in  the  world  outside.  With  so  much  injustice,  strife 
and  brutality  in  the  world  at  large,  it  is  no  wonder  that  prison  life  mirrors 
the  same  spirit.  When  we  become  civilized  enough  to  abolish  human  slaughter 
in  the  larger  prison  called  society,  when  we  reorganize  life  on  the  basis  of 
human  brotherhood  and  co-operation,  we  will  have  no  use  for  prisons. 

Atlanta,  Ga. 

October  1,  1919.  Alexander  Berkman 


15 


REPLY  OF  FRED  G.  ZERBST 
Warden  of  the  U.  S.  Federal  Penitentiary,  Atlanta,  Ga. 


Editor  Constitution: 

In  yesterday's  i-sue  of  your  paper  you  printed  an  article  under  the 
heading,  "Berfarfan  Charges  Brutal  Methods  in  Atlanta  Pen,"  and  which 
article  i-  devoted  principally  to  a  personal  attack  on  Deputy  Warden 
Charles  II.  Girardeau.  It  is  also  charged  that  a  majority  of  the  guards  are 
vulgar,  brutal  and  dissipated  men. 

It  i-  not  m\  custom  to  reply  to  ridiculous  statements  or  attacks  upon  this 
institution  made  by  irresponsible  individuals,  but  in  this  case  the  attack  is 
somewhat  along  personal  lines,  and  in  justice  to  the  men  so  attacked  I  trust 
that  you  will  see  lit  to  accord  this  communication  the  same  privilege  to  space 
in  your  columns  as  that  accorded  to  Mr.  Berkman's  foul  and  unwarranted 
personal  attack. 

Deputy  Warden  Charles  H.  Girardeau  is  a  Christian  gentleman  of  high 
chi  i  ict(  i.  clean  habits  and  high  ideals,  who  performs  his  duties  conscien- 
tiously with  a* view  no  less  for  the  welfare  of  those  confined  here  than  for 
the  government  under  which  we  live.  He  has  lived  in  Atlanta  for  a  great 
man)  years  and  is  known  intimately  by  many  of  Atlanta's  best  citizens.  I 
wonder  if  any  of  these  people  can  picture  Charlie  Girardeau  as  a  low-minded, 
brutal  fiend  who  tortures  his  unfortunate  victims  in  the  manner  described  by 
Mi  Berkman.  On  the  one  hand  we  have  here  a  man  who  has  been  in  Atlanta 
business  and  public  life  for  a  great  many  years,  always  working  to  build  up 
it-  citizenship  and  it-  institutions,  always  having  in  view  the  public  welfare. 
On  the  other  hand  we  have  Mr.  Berkman.  who  came  to  this  country  an 
anarchisl  disguised  by  the  pretense  of  seeking  the  benefits  of  American  free- 
dom. .  Mr.  IJcikin an  served  a  sentence  of  22  years  in  the  Pennsyl- 
S  te  prison,  alter  which  he  made  the  same  kind  of  an  attack  on 
thai  institution  as  he  has  on  this  one. 

rring  to  the  attack  on  the  character  of  the  guards  on  duty  at  this  in- 
stitution, the  guard  force  here  as  a  whole  i-  constituted  of  good  loyal  Ameri- 
can-, who  perform  their  duties  with  painstaking  care,  and  it  requires  much 

nd  patience  to  handle  men  ol  all  differenl  mentalities  and  character  as- 
sembled  in  a  penal  institution.  The  public  little  realizes  the  work  performed 
bj  thi  it  a  compensation  hard  \\  -ullicieni  lo  li\e  decentl\.    The  ;  guards 

■  pointed  onl)  after  passing  a  standard  examination  pre.-eribed  by  the 
United  States  civil  Bervice  commission  after  careful  investigation  showing 
"thai  they  are  loyal    Vmericans,  that  they  are  men  of  good  moral  character 

! 


and  standing  in  the  community  in  which  they  have  lived  and  that  they  possess 
in  a  high  degree  the  qualifications  necessary  for  the  position.  If  any  great 
daily  paper  believes  that  these  guards  are  of  such  character  as  Mr.  Berkman 
describes,  it  would  be  well  to  endeavor  to  rectify  the  methods  by  which  they 
are  selected. 

This  institution  is  open  to  the  public  each  day  except  Sundays,  and  many 
thousands  of  visitors  take  advantage  of  this  and  inspect  every  department. 
Unlike  most  similar  institutions  our  isolation  building,  in  which  are  confined 
men  who  can  not  be  brought  in  any  other  way  to  respect  the  rights  of  others 
and  the  rules  of  the  institution,  is  open  to  the  public.  Mr.  Berkman  claims 
that  these  "filthy  dungeons"  are  cleaned  up  purely  for  the  public  visitors; 
if  that  be  so  they  must  be  cleaned  twice  each  day  and  it  would  not  be  possible 
for  them  to  be  very  filthy  at  any  time. 

I  do  not  ask  to  be  exonerated  on  account  of  any  improper  conditions  exist- 
ing at  this  institution,  if  such  do  exist,  and  I  cheerfully  accept  responsibility 
for  its  management  as  long  as  I  am  its  Warden.  This  management,  however, 
will  be  in  the  interest  of  the  government  constituted  by  the  American  people 
and  not  in  the  interest  of  a  revolutionary  propaganda  seeking  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  that  government  and  the  substitution  therefor  of  the  doctrines  of  Alex- 
ander Berkman  and  his  associates,  the  abolition  of  all  laws. 

Very  truly  yours, 

Fred  G.  Zerbst,  Warden. 


17 


REPLY  TO  WARDEN  FRED  G.  ZERBST 

Editor  Constitution: 

In  your  issue  of  October  4.  1919,  Warden  Fred  G.  Zerbst,  of  the  Federal 
Prison  at  Atlanta,  makes  an  alleged  reply  to  my  charges  of  brutality,  cor- 
ruption and  incompetence  on  the  part  of  the  management  of  the  Federal  Peni- 
tentiary. 

The  outstanding  feature  of  Warden  Zerbst's  statement  is  its  entire  failure 
to  discredit  my  charges,  much  less  to  disprove  them.  I  made  definite  accu- 
sations,  gave  facts,  cited  specific  instances.  The  Warden's  only  reply  is,  in 
essence,  '"All's  well,  and  there  is  nothing  more  to  be  said  about  it."  That  is 
the  good  old  traditional  policy  of  the  authorities  of  all  penal  and  other  sim- 
ilar institutions  -ince  time  immemorial.  When  facing  charges  of  corruption 
and  brutality,  thev  resort  to  the  grand  gesture  of  waving  the  terrible  indict- 
ment flippantly  aside,  with  the  too-easy  declaration,  "Nothing  to  it."  But 
.in  outraged  public  sentiment,  in  numerous  similar  cases,  has  but  too  often 
exposed  this  liigh-and-mighty  attitude  as  the  invariable  camouflage  of  rotten 
condition-  within  the  prison  walls.  To  cite  but  one  recent  instance,  still  com- 
paratively  vivid  in  the  pubic  memory,  will  be  sufficient.  I  refer  to  the  case 
<>f  Mr.  Moyer,  former  Warden  of  the  Atlanta  Federal  Prison,  who  consistently 
scoffed  .'I  and  ridiculed  the  charges  of  Julian  Hawthorne  (the  son  of  his 
famou-  lather  i  till  the  Hawthorne  revelations  of  prison  abuse  and  outrage, 
corroborated  by  numerous  other  prisoners  and  former  inmates,  were  proven 
to  the  hilt,  and  Warden  Moyer  summarily  dismissed  by  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment. 

I  appreciate  the  spirit  of  chivalry,  of  the  esprit  de  corps,  that  prompts 
Wardi  n  Zerbst  to  rush  to  the  rescue  of  Deputy  Warden  Girardeau  and  his 
assistants,  against  whom  my  indictment  is  chiefly  directed.  I  have  empha- 
sized  in  m\  previous  statement  that  Warden  Zerbst  is  more  humane  and  in- 
telligent than  the  Deputy  Warden.  I  may  now  add  that  he  is  also  generous, 
.ill  ton  generous,  to  his  official  subordinates.  But  chivalry  may  be  misplaced 
it  is  misplaced  in  the  present  case.  It  will  not  do  for  Mr.  Zerbst  to  barrage 
the  < .ut r  igea  committed  within  the  prison  walls  with  his  loyalty  to  his  official 
family,  lb-  owes  ■>  duty,  a  prim-  duty,  to  the  public,  to  the  taxpayers  that 
support  the  institution  over  which  he  presides.  Besides,  he  also  owes  a 
duty  to  the  men  in  hi-  keeping,  the  inmates — about  1,500  helpless  unfortu- 
lurj  he  owe-  in  the  interests  of  justice  and  humanity. 

To  mj  specific  charge  ih.it  Deput)  Warden  Girardeau  is  brutal  ami  of 
low  moral  and  mental  calibre,  the  Warden  replies  thai  Mr.  Girardeau  is  a 
well-known  citizen  pi  Atlanta.  Tis  a  rather  lame  and  unconvincing  refuta- 
tion o|  m\  charge.  To  m)  indictment  of  the  majority  of  the  guards  as  vulgar, 
brutal  ind  dissipated  men.  the  Warden  replies  that  they  have  satisfactorily 
filled  out  certain  civil  service  blank-,  or  passed  some  other  perfunctory  ex- 

L8 


amination.  Yet  in  the  very  next  breath  he  admits  that  "  the  work  is  per- 
formed by  these  men  at  a  compensation  hardly  sufficient  to  live  decently." 
In  other  words,  the  guards  are  paid  $76.00  per  month,  and  I  leave  it  to  the 
readers  to  judge  what  "high  degree  of  qualification"  $76.00-dollar-a-month 
men  possess,  in  these  days  of  high  cost  of  living. 

I  emphatically  challenge  the  Warden's  statement  that  visitors  are  ad- 
mitted to  the  punishment  cells  I  described  as  filthy.  There  are  in  the  Atlanta 
Federal  Prison  two  kinds  of  punishment  cells,  known  respectively  as  the 
"dark  hole"  and  the  "light  hole."  The  difference  between  the  two  is  ex- 
treme. The  "light  hole"  is  a  comparatively  large  cell  with  a  window  admit- 
ting some  light  and  air.  The  "dark  hole"  is  a  veritable  kennel,  wedge- 
shaped,  about  2!/o  feet  wide  at  the  entrance,  4y2  feet  at  the  back,  and  6  feet 
long.  The  prisoner  is  forced  to  sleep  in  this  dark  hole  on  the  floor,  on  a 
filthy  mattress,  with  a  bit  of  rag  for  covering  even  in  the  coldest  winter.  Its 
cnly  toilet  facilities  is  an  iron  pail,  sharp-edged,  without  any  lid,  the  pail 
remaining  in  the  cell  24  hours  daily.  It  is  emptied  but  once  a  day  in  the 
early  morning.  That's  the  filthy  dungeon  referred  to  in  my  first  statement 
in  the  "Constitution,"  and  I  challenge  the  authorities  of  the  prison  to  deny 
its  existence,  to  deny  that  men  are  kept  there  for  thirty  days  consecutively 
and  sometimes  longer,  on  an  insufficient  bread  and  water  diet.  No  visitors, 
except  government  officials,  or  personal  friends  of  the  prison  authorities,  are 
ever  permitted  even  a  glance  into  this  dark  dungeon. 

Can  Warden  Zerbst  successfully  deny  the  above  facts?  Even  a  most 
superficial  investigation  would  bear  me  out.  Can  the  Warden  contradict 
my  charges  that  prisoners  are  strung  up  by  the  wrists  for  8  to  12  hours  at  a 
stretch,. for  5  to  10  consecutive  days?  In  his  statement  in  the  "Constitution" 
the  Warden  fails  to  deny  that  men  are  frequently  clubbed,  nor  does  he  even 
refer  to  the  unprovoked  murder  of  "Kid"  Smith  by  Officer  Dean  on  February 
21,  1919.  What  is  the  Warden's  reply  to  these  direct  charges?  His  reply 
is  that  "Berkman  came  to  this  country  as  an  Anarchist,  disguised  by  the  pre- 
tence of  seeking  the  benefits  of  American  freedom."  A  rather  peculiar  justi- 
fication for  prison  brutalities!  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  came  to  this  country 
about  32  years  ago,  a  mere  boy  of  17,  at  which  time  I  had  never  heard  the 
word  Anarchist,  nor  knew  its  meaning.  I  became  an  Anarchist  in  this  country, 
and  it  was  just  such  methods  as  used  by  Deputy  Warden  Girardeau — the 
methods  of  tyranny,  oppression  and  persecution,  practiced  not  only  in  peni- 
tentiaries, but  also  in  the  larger  prison  called  the  world — that  made  me  an 
Anarchist  who  seeks  more  humane  forms  of  social  life. 

Warden  Zerbst  pretendi  to  believe  my  charges  against  the  institution  to 
be  but  a  "ridiculous  attack  somewhat  along  personal  lines."  Why  ridiculous? 
Have  such  things  never  happened  before  in  prison?  Have  penal  institutions 
never  been  known  to  resort  to  brutal  methods,  or  are  prison  guards  generally 
acknowledged  to  be  the  cream  of  human  kindness,  understanding,  and  good 
judgment?  Or  are  "the  high  moral  and  intellectual  qualifications"  of  76- 
dollar-a-month  men  beyond  question  or  dispute? 

The  Warden  states  that  I  had  made  similar  charges  after  my  release  from 

19 


the  Western  Penitentiary  of  Pennsylvania.  But  he  forgets  to  add  that  as  a 
result  of  niv  indictment  of  the  brutalities  practiced  in  that  prison,  investiga- 
tion- took  place,  my  charges  sustained,  and  practically  the  whole  adminis- 
tration of  the  Western  Penitentiary  radically  changed. 

\-  a  matter  of  fact,  1  did  not  yet  tell  one-hundredth  part  of  the  terrible 
things  that  happen  in  the  daily  routine  of  the  Atlanta  Federal  Prison.  For 
Ink  of  time  ami  -pace  I  did  not  even  mention  the  criminal  neglect  of  sick 
prisoners,  the  deliberate  starvation  of  the  consumptive  Nicholas  Zogg,  who 

lallj  thing  on  his  feet  for  lack  of  proper  diet  (he  being  a  vegetarian), 
the  unwholesome  food,  the  vile  manner  in  which  it  is  served  to  the  inmates, 
the  favoritism  of  men  with  a  "pull,"  the  discriminaton  against  political 
offenders,  the  corrupt  system  of  "stool  pigeons,"  the  fake  trials  at  which  the 
word   of  one  drunken  guard   outweighs  that  of  a  dozen  soldiers,  political 

ners  and  other  inmates  of  character  and  integrity,  whose  sole  crime  con- 
sisted  in  tli>'  expression  of  an  unpopular  opinion  during  the  war.  I  have  not 
Mt  referred  to  the  traffic,  by  guards  and  other  officials,  in  cocaine,  morphine, 
and  other  "dope,"  nor  to  the  new  400-loom  duck  mill,  the  product  of  which 
i-  al'oiit  to  come  in  competition  with  free  labor.  Nor  have  I  yet  even  hinted 
at  the  existence  and  the  actual  encouragement  of  homosexual  practices  and 
other  sex  aberrations  resulting  from  suppression.  I  have  not  started  yet, 
Mr.  Zerbst,  bul  1  will,  and  that  very  soon. 

\n'  these  charges  just  "a  personal  attack?"  Why  try  to  mislead  the 
public?  Most  intelligent  men  knoiv  that  there  are  terrible  abuses  practiced 
in  penal  institutions.  There  are  several  investigations  of  penitentiaries  and 
insane  asylums  going  on  at  this  very  moment.  The  Federal  Prison  at  Atlanta 
i-  no  exception,  and  my  attack  is  not  directed  against  any  particular  individu- 
al, hut  against  the  system  of  tyranny,  injustice  and  brutality  inside  our  prisons, 
as  well  a-  outside.  1  want  to  do  whatever  lies  in  my  power  to  ameliorate 
tii'  conditions  under  which  my  unfortunate  fellow-men  in  prisons  have  to 
Buffer.  1  think  that  Warden  Zerbst.  as  a  matter  of  common  humanity,  should 
!>'•  the  first  to  aid  my  effort-.      \-  the  initial  step  toward  this  he  should  elim- 

all  physical  violence,  abolish  chaining  up  and  the  stool-pigeon  system, 
and  ti\  to  secure  a  living  wage  for  the  prison  guards.     You  can't  live  these 

on  $76.00  a  month.  Most  of  the  guards  are  married  men,  with  families. 
\\  ithin  the  last  two  year-  a  large  number  of  new  keepers  have  been  engaged 
by  the  penitentiary,  displacing  the  old  and  outworn  men — engaged  at  $76.00 

nth.  with  disastrous  results  to  the  inmates.  The  struggle  for  existence 
makes  the  guards  sufly,  cranky,  and  quarrelsome,  constantly  conscious  of 
•  because  of  their  low  pay,  with  the  tendency  to  vent  their 
mist  i\  and  ill-humor  upon  the  unfortunates  in  their  power.  The  human  ele- 
ment i-  ot  \it,d  importance  in  prison  life. 

\-  i  matter  of  common  decency  and  fellow-feeling,  in  the  interest  of 
both  tin-  prisoners  and  society,  I  shall  be  happy  to  contribute  my  little  share 
to  bring  a  hit  of  sunshine  into  the  dark  night  of  the  boys  I  left  behind. 

York, 
ber,  5,  1919.  Alexander  Berkman 

20 


PERSECUTION  OF  POLITICALS 

TDKACTICALLY  every  political  and  industrial  prisoner  in  the  Federal 
J-  Penitentiary  at  Altanta,  with  the  exception  of  Eugene  V.  Debs,  has 
been  the  victim  of  special  discrimination  and  persecution.  In  the  case 
of  Debs,  the  authorities  considered  it  best,  owing  to  his  great  popularity, 
to  assign  him  to  the  hospital,  where  he  enjoys  better  food  and  treatment, 
without  any  particular  work  to  do.  At  the  same  time  this  partial  isolation 
of  Eugene  V.  Debs  from  the  rest  of  the  prisoners  precludes  opportunity  on 
his  part  for  spreading  his  ideas  among  the  inmates. 

With  the  sole  exception  of  Eugene  V.  Debs,  all  the  other  political  prison- 
ers in  the  Atlanta  penitentiary  have  suffered  special  persecution: 

A.  Hennecy,  a  young  Socialist  from  Ohio,  was  kept  in  complete  solitude 
and  isolation  for  eight  consecutive  months.  He  was  allowed  neither  to  re- 
ceive or  send  mail,  no  books  or  papers  of  any  kind,  nor  was  he  permitted 
work  or  exercise,  or  any  other  privileges  usually  accorded  the  average 
prisoner.  The  "crime"  for  which  he  was  being  thus  inhumanly  punished 
was,  according  to  the  official  report  of  officer  Demoss  (formerly  whipping 
master  in  the  Atlanta  prison),  "Conversing  in  a  suspicious  manner  with 
another,  prisoner  in  the  yard,  the  other  prisoner  being  Louis  Kramer."  Both 
Hennecy  and  Kramer  were  at  that  time  employed  in  the  prison  shops  and 
permitted,  like  the  other  inmates,  to  be  out  in  the  yard  every  Saturday  and 
Sunday  afternoon,  privileged  to  speak  to  anyone. 

A.  Hennecy  is  now  finishing  a  one-year  sentence  in  the  Delaware  County 
Jail,  Ohio,  having  been  released  from  the  Atlanta  prison  in  February,  1919. 
He  served  in  Atlanta  two  years  on  the  charge  of  obstructing  the  draft.  His 
present  sentence  is  the  result  of  his  failure  to  register  on  June  4th,  1917. 

Walter  Hershberger,  a  conscientious  objector,  serving  20  years  for  re- 
fusing to  don  a  military  uniform.  (His  sentence  has  since  been  reduced 
to  four  years.)  Herschberger  has  been  kept  in  solitary  confinement  and 
isolation  almost  continuously  since  the  early  part  of  December,  1918.  His 
solitary  is  "broken"  by  frequent  visits  to  the  dungeon,  a  dark  hole  2^x4^  -_>x6 
feet,  where  he  is  kept  on  an  insufficient  bread-and-water  diet  for  periods 
ranging  from  3  to  15  days.  He  was  in.  isolation  when  I  left  the  prison  on 
October  1st,  1919. 

Nicholas  Zenn  Zogg  (spelled  on  the  prison  records  Zough)  serving  ten 
years  on  the  charge  of  aiding  a  young  man  to  evade  the  draft.  He  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Atlanta  penitentiary  from  the  Federal  prison  at  McNeill's 
Island,  State  of  Washington.     Zogg  is  in  the  last  stages  of  tuberculosis,  and 

21 


is  being  practically  starved  to  death  by  the  refusal  of  the  authorities  to  permit 
him  to  buy  or  to  receive  suitable  food  from  friends.  He  has  been  a  strict 
vegetarian  all  his  life,  as  were  his  father  and  grandfather  before  him,  and 
he  i-  neither  physically  nor  conscientiously  able  to  partake  of  the  regular 
prison  diet.  He  is  forced  to  live  mostly  on  oatmeal,  badly  prepared  and 
served  in  the  most  unpalatable  manner.  Nothwithstanding  the  fact  that 
Zogg  is  barely  able  to  walk  about,  he  has  been  repeatedly  thrown  into  the 
dungeon  for  alleged  breaches  of  discipline. 

Jack  Randolph,  an  I.  W.  W.,  serving  10  years  for  opposition  to  the  war, 
in  \ci\  delicate  health  and  unable  to  perform  the  amount  of  work  demanded 
<>l  him  in  the  tailor  shop,  »a<  repeatedly  punished  in  the  dungeon  and  in 
solitary . 

"Red"  Massey.  an  I.  W.  W.,  from  New  Orleans,  sent  to  the  Atlanta 
prison  on  a  frame-up  charge  under  the  Mann  Act.  This  man  has  been  kept 
in  solitary  and  in  isolation  almost  continuously  for  a  year,  and  punished 
in  the  dungeon  on  the  slightest  pretext. 

Morris  Becker,  sentenced  to  20  months   on   the  charge   of  conspiracy 

nsl  the  (halt.  This  young  man,  of  very  slight  physique,  weighing  about 
loo  pounds,  and  for  over  a  year  unable  to  eat  anything  except  bread  and 
oatmeal  because  of  his  poor  physical  condition  and  also  because  he^was.a 
vegetarian,  was  ordered  to  do  yard  work.  His  job  consisted  in  wheeling 
a  large  wheelbarrow  full  of  bricks  and  cement  up  a  very  steep  incline. 
Becker  was  unable  to  perform  the  work.  For  his  "refusal  to  work"  he  was 
sent  to  the  dungeon  and  there  kept  for  21  days  on  two  slices  of  bread  and 
water  a  day.  He  was  released  from  the  dungeon  almost  half  dead,  where- 
upon  the  authorities  admitted  that  he  was  unable  to  perform  the  hard  toil 
allotted  to  him.     He  was  then  assigned  to  the  tailor  shop. 

Louis  Kramer,  serving  2  years  for  conspiracy  to  obstruct  the  draft, 
led,  like  Becker,  to  the  same  yard  work,  and  equally  unable  to  perform 
lli>-  task.  Kepi  in  the  dungeon  21  days  on  bread  and  water.  Subsequently 
repeatedly  punished  in  the  dark  cell  on  the  slightest  or  no  provocation, 
chained  up  by  the  wrists  to  the  door,  and  kept  in  isolation  for  5  months  till 
hi-  discharge  in  June.  L919. 

Louis  Kramer  is  now  serving  one  year  in  the  Essex  County  Penitentiary, 
Y  J.,  for  refusing  to  register. 

Alexander  Uerkman,  sentenced  to  2  years  on  the  charge  of  conspiracy 
to  obstrucl  tin-  draft.  Kept  in  the  dungeon  for  five  days  on  bread  and  water 
lor  <  irculating  a  petition  in  the  tailor  shop,  protesting  to  the  Warden  against 
the  brutal  clubbings  ol  defenceless  prisoners;  also  in  protest  against  the 
unprovoked  murder  of  "Kid""  Smith  b\  Officer  Dean.  Sentenced  to  solitary 
and  isolation  for  ~\-_.  months,  for  calling  the  attention  of  Deputy  Warden 
Girardeau  to  the  brutalities  practiced  by  the  keepers  in  his  charge,  and  for 
calling  tin-  Deput)  a  hypocrite.  Kept  thirty  consecutive  hours  in  the  "dark 
hole"  \>,  iih  the  blind  floor  on,  which  almost  absolutely  excludes  all  light  and 
air.  with  the  result  that  the  man  thus  punished  is  put  through  the  torture  of 
gradual  suffocation, — one  of  the  worst  forms  of  punishment  known  in  prison 

22 


life.  During  three  months  forbidden  to  receive  or  send  mail,  read  papers 
or  books,  or  to  have  any  exercise  whatever.  Held  in  solitary  and  in  isola- 
tion continuously  from  February  21st,  to  the  day  of  discharge,  October  1st, 
1919. 

As  an  instance  of  wilful  brutality  practiced  upon  the  ordinary  prisoner, 
I  may  cite  the  case  of  A.  Popoff.  In  the  latter  part  of  1917,  while  in  a  state 
of  temporary  mental  aberration,  Popoff  killed  a  former  Deputy  Warden  of 
the  prison.  He  was  taken  out  for  trial  and  sentenced  to  life  imprisonment. 
Upon  his  return  from  the  court,  the  Atlanta  penitentiary  authorities  con- 
fined him  in  a  dark  dungeon  and  kept  him  there  continuously  for  two  years, 
most  of  the  time  on  a  bread-and-water  died.  Almost  every  week  Popoff  was 
subjected  to  a  terrific  beating  by  several  guards,  after  which  he  would  be 
carried  to  the  hospital  unconscious,  and  later  again  returned  to  the  dungeon. 
This  treatment  was  kept  up  from  1917  till  August,  1919.  Popoff  became  a 
raving  maniac,  and  still  his  punishment  in  the  dungeon  continued.  Finally, 
in  the  latter  part  of  1919,  he  was  transferred  to  an  insane  asylum. 

This  is  one  of  the  instances  of  a  prisoner  of  infantile  mentality  being 
deliberately  driven  into  insanity  by  torture  and  by  barbaric  treatment. 

This  -is  but  a  small  fragment  of  the  numerous  brutalities  practiced 
daily  in  the  U.  S.  Penitentiary  at  Atlanta,  Ga.  The  lot  of  the  average 
prisoner  is  hard  enough,  but  the  politicals  are  particularly  discriminated 
against  in  the  matter  of  work,  of  general  treatment,  and  specifically  in  rela- 
tion to  their  mail  privileges.  A  young  keeper,  whose  education  does  not 
exceed  the  three  R's,  is  the  chief  prison  censor,  with  the  result  that  most  of 
the  mail  sent  to  the  politicals  never  reaches  its  destination. 

In  the  daily  routine  of  prison  life,  there  are  many  and  various  oppor- 
tunities to  make  the  existence  of  the  inmates  unbearable.  In  Atlanta  there 
are  quite  a  number  of  petty  officials,  from  the  Deputy  down,  who  make  the 
best  of  these  opportunities,  especially  in  regard  to  the  politicals.  To  the 
average  prison  keeper,  the  political  offender  is  a  non-understandable  thing. 
He  knows  that  the  convict  is  either  a  murderer,  robber  or  a  thief,  but  that 
a  man  should  be  willing  to  go  to  prison  for  no  material  benefit  to  himself, 
is  beyond  his  ken.  That  one  should  risk  his  liberty  merely  for  the  sake  of 
ideas  or  ideals,  is  almost  beyond  belief  and  is  positive  proof — in  the  eyes 
of  the  average  prison  keeper — that  the  man  is  either  crazy  or  hopelessly 
depraved.  Such  a  man  need  expect  neither  understanding,  sympathy,  nor 
mercy.  The  average  man  is  inclined  to  distrust  and  hate  the  thing  he  does 
not  understand,  and  we  always  try  to  suppress  the  thing  we  hate.  Hence, 
the  more  than  usually  inhumane  and  brutal  treatment  of  the  political  prison- 
ers in  the  penal  institutions  of  America. 

Alexander  Berkmax 


IN  CONCLUSION 

rpHE  results  attained  by  penal  institutions  are  the  very  opposite  of  the  ends 
sought.  The  modern  form  of  "civilized"  revenge  kills,  figuratively  speak- 
ing, the  enemy  of  the  individual  citizen,  but  it  breeds  in  his  place  the  enemy 
of  society.  The  prisoner  of  the  State  does  not  regard  the  person  he  injured 
as  his  particular  enemy — as  did  the  member  of  the  primitive  tribe,  for  in- 
stance, feeling  the  wrath  and  revenge  of  the  wronged  one.  Instead,  he  looks 
upon  the  State  as  his  direct  punisher;  in  the  representatives  of  the  law  he 
sees  his  personal  enemies.  He  nurtures  his  wrath,  and  wild  thoughts  of 
revenge  fill  his  mind.  His  hate  toward  the  persons  directly  responsible,  in 
-limation,  for  his  misfortune — the  arresting  officer,  the  jailer,  the  prose- 
rut  ing  attorney,  judge  and  jury — gradually  widens  in  scope,  and  the  poor 
unfortunate  becomes  an  enemy  of  society  as  a  whole.  Thus,  while  our  penal 
institutions  are  supposed  to  protect  society  from  the  prisoner  so  long  as  he 
remains  one.  they  cultivate  in  him  the  germs  of  social  hatred  and  enmity. 

Deprived  of  his  liberty,  his  rights,  and  the  enjoyment  of  life;  all  his  nat- 
ural impulses,  good  and  bad  alike,  suppressed;  subjected  to  indignities  and 
disciplined  by  harsh  and  often  most  inhumane  methods,  generally  maltreated 
and  abused  by  official  brutes  whom  he  despises  and  hates,  the  prisoner  comes 
i"  i  urse  the  fact  of  his  birth,  the  woman  that  bore  him,  and  all  those  re- 
sponsible, in  his  eyes,  for  his  misery.  He  is  brutalized  by  the  treatment  he 
receives,  and  by  the  revolting  sights  he  is  forced  to  witness  in  prison.  What 
manhood  he  may  have  possessed  is  soon  eradicated  by  the  "discipline."  His 
impotent  rage  and  bitterness  are  turned  into  hatred  toward  everything  and 
body,  the  feeling  growing  in  intensity  as  the  years  of  misery  come  and 
ds  over  his  troubles,  and  the  desire  to  revenge  himself  grows 
on  him.  Soon  it  becomes  a  fixed  determination.  Society  had  made  him 
an  outcast:  it  is  his  natural  enemy.  Nobody  had  shown  him  either  kindness 
i.r  mercy;  he  will  be  merciless  to  the  world. 

Then  he  is  released.     His  former  friends  spurn  him;  he  is  no  more 
gnized  bj   his  acquaintances.    Society  points  its  finger  at  the  ex-convict. 

24 


He  is  looked  upon  with  scorn,  derision,  and  disgust.  He  is  distrusted  and 
abused.  He  has  no  money,  and  there  is  little  charity  for  the  "moral  leper." 
He  finds  himself  a  social  Ishmael,  with  everybody's  hand  turned  against 
him — and  he  turns  his  hand  against  everybody  else. 

The  penal  and  the  alleged  "protective"  functions  of  prisons  thus  defeat 
their  own  ends.  Their  work  is  not  merely  unprofitable;  it  is  worse  than 
useless.  It  is  positively  and  absolutely  detrimental  to  the  best  interests  of 
society. 

There  exists  no  other  institution  among  the  diversified  "achievements" 
of  modern  society  which,  while  assuming  a  most  important  role  in  the  des- 
tinies of  mankind,  has  proven  a  more  reprehensible  failure.  Millions  of 
dollars  are  annually  expended  for  the  maintenance  of  prisons — a  great  deal 
more  than  is  spent  on  educational  institutions  in  this  country.  That  money 
could  be  invested  with  as  much  profit  and  less  harm  in  government  bonds  of 
the  planet  Mars,  or  sunk  in  the  Atlantic.  No  amount  of  punishment  can 
obviate  or  "cure"  crime  so  long  as  prevailing  conditions,  in  and  out  of 
prison,  drive  men  to  it. 

Alexander  Berkman 


25 


Should  Thought 
Be  Suppressed? 

or  do  you  approve  of  the  sentiments  expressed  by  ALEXANDER 
BERKMAN  in  his  statement,  in  re  deportation,  made  to  the 
officials  of  the  U.  S.  Immigration  Service: 

I  deny  the  right  of  any  one — individually  or  col- 
lectively— to  set  up  an  inquisition  of  thought. 
Thought  is,  or  should  be,  free.  My  social  views 
and  political  opinions  are  my  personal  concern. 
I  owe  no  one  responsibility  for  them.  Responsi- 
bility begins  only  with  the  effects  of  thought 
expressed  in  action.  No  before.  Free  thought, 
necessarily  involving  freedom  of  speech  and 
press,  I  may  tersely  define  thus :  no  opinion  a 
law — no  opinion  a  crime.  For  the  government  to 
attempt  to  control  thought,  to  prescribe  certain 
opinions  or  proscribe  others,  is  the  height  of 
despotism. 

Do  you  realize  the  menace  of  the  Anti-Anarchist  Law,  under 
cover  of  which  scores  of  men  and  women — not  only  Anarchists, 
but  Socialists,  I.  W.  W.'s,  and  ordinary  workers — are  arrested 
daily  and  held  for  deportation? 

As  EMMA  GOLDMAN  pointed  out  at  her  deportation  hearing: 

Under  the  mask  of  the  same  Anti-Anarchist  law 
every  criticism  of  a  corrupt  administration,  every 
attack  on  Governmental  abuse,  every  manifesta- 
tion of  sympathy  with  the  struggling  of  another 
country  in  the  pangs  of  a  new  birth — in  short, 
every  free  expression  of  untrammeled  thought 
may  be  suppressed  utterly,  without  even  the  sem- 
blance of  an  unprejudiced  hearing  or  a  fair  trial. 

HELP  US  FIGHT  THIS  MENACE 

EMMA  GOLDMAN  j 

ALEXANDER  BERKMAN  j  c°mmittee 

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The  story  of  the  trial  and  sentence  of  Mollie 
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Justices  of  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court  Holmes  and  Brandeis  said 
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A  MONTHLY  JOURNAL  OF  CONSTRUCTIVE  ANARCHISM 


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In  the  present  universal  chaos  of  thought  and  aims,  a  clear 
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